Portraits of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus performers and staff
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Portrait of trapeze flier Andrei Ricardo Peixotode Oliveira. "I'm the fifth generation of trapeze flyers. My grandparents, my dad, my brothers -- I have seven brothers -- We [are all] trapeze flyers. I am the new generation. It [is our] culture. My mom is 63 years old, my dad is 74 years old. They stopped circus just two years ago. They say it's so hard. For us, normal life is traveling. It's hard to live at home, to have a normal life, like normal people."
After 146 years, the "Greatest Show on Earth" will close its curtain in the end of May.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus started in 1919 when the circus created by James Anthony Bailey and P. T. Barnum merged with the Ringling Brothers Circus. The circus' parent company, Feld Entertainment, made the decision to end the show after waning ticket sales and long court battles over the treatment of animals, particularly the elephants, made the costly entertainment event unsustainable.
![Portrait of trapeze flier Andrei Ricardo Peixotode Oliveira. "I'm the fifth generation of trapeze flyers. My grandparents, my dad, my brothers -- I have seven brothers -- We [are all] trapeze flyers. I am the new generation. It [is our] culture. My mom is 63 years old, my dad is 74 years old. They stopped circus just two years ago. They say it's so hard. For us, normal life is traveling. It's hard to live at home, to have a normal life, like normal people." <br />
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After 146 years, the "Greatest Show on Earth" will close its curtain in the end of May. <br />
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus started in 1919 when the circus created by James Anthony Bailey and P. T. Barnum merged with the Ringling Brothers Circus. The circus' parent company, Feld Entertainment, made the decision to end the show after waning ticket sales and long court battles over the treatment of animals, particularly the elephants, made the costly entertainment event unsustainable.](https://m.psecn.photoshelter.com/img-get2/I0000xCVQ1tYeoWI/fit=1000x750/g=G0000BI8ps.2vTPA/150827-Sinclair-RinglingPortraits-007.jpg)
